Goats and dogs

[tltater]

I have just recently got my first goat and am getting my baby that I have been waiting for since she was born will be home Sunday. My question is the goat I have now cannot stand my dogs. They can be completely ignoring her and she will be snorting and stomping and putting her head down like she is going to head butt something. Will she get used to them? We got her Wednsday from an auction(I know stupid place but...) I am guessing she is about 4 to 5 by looking at her teeth. She is a La Mancha or possibly a La Mancha/Boer X. They said she was breed but we will see. It's not like you get to talk to the owner when you go to an auction. We fell in love with her and just had to have her. She is very sweet and great with all of us. She started crying today everytime we went in the house. I know she is lonely but can't bring my other home until at least Sunday...they want to be sure she is eating on her own before she goes. Any suggestions and helping her get used to the dogs?

[okgoatgal2]

she'll either get her bluff in on them, and start ignoring them, or not. (lots of help, aren't i ) my goats did fine with the lgd's, but they hated my cocker. chances are if she's housed close to or with the dogs, she'll accept them after she learns they won't hurt her...she's just trying to get them to understand SHE is the BOSS (aka Queen goat)

My goats didn't like the dogs at first to but give yours some time and she will settle down. You must remember that in her shoes they are things that kill her kind so it is natural that she is afraid and suspicious of them even if they arn't doing anything. Give her some time and she will see that they truly arn't going to do anything to her. One of my goats will defend her self by sort of butting the dogs when they get to close to her and since she doesn't hurt the dogs I let her because it reminds them that she will take care of her self if need be but she is by no means afraid of them just warning them.

Hope this helps!
MotherClucker

[TexCountryWoman]

Like okgoatgal2 said, your goat should get used to your dog unless she has had a horrenedous experience in the past and her actions would have already shown you that by now (total freak-out with dogs). My goats were only used to my Australian Shepherds which made them slightly nervous. Those dogs never offered to harm the goats, but their dogs constant energy and running around the outside of the pen, chasing cattle away from things cattle shouldn't be near, chasing cars away from our pasture fence, the dogs never get in the road, but protect "our" road. That hyperactivity made the goats nervous.

Then when I got my 2 Great Pyrenees pups (LGD=Large Guardian Dogs, different from large guard dog, VERY!), and put them in with my goats. The goats accepted them I had to be careful because the pups could have been smushed up by head-butting, but one doe I had had been raised with LGD before on another farm. She LOVED the dogs. She wanted to love and mother them. She offered her udder which was dry. She licked those big furry polar bears. The other goats watched this in horror, like this Nubian doe was insane. But in her world, Great Pyrenees were family. Now all the goats like the Pyrenees and accept them as goat family members and vice versa. They rub up against each other, sleep in a pile together and just think they are a herd. Pyrenees and other LGD are mellow with goats/sheep and protect them without exciting them.

Goats are adaptable and yours should settle down with time and patience and no harrassment from your dog.

One caveat I'll add, though, is watch for simple personality conflicts. I have a dobie/cattle dog cross with a high play drive -- likes to tag the goats on the butt with his front paws just to make 'em jump -- and one wether with NO sense of humor. The dog gets along okay with the other goats, who warn him off if he gets too rough, and play with him sometimes if he's in the mood.

The wether was raised with the dog, and his twin brother gets along fine, but Einstein just has NO sense of humor. I've had several fights get started between them because the dog jumps on him and the goat attacks the dog -- the last one resulted in a dog that was limping for a week and a goat with an ear that was ripped and took months to heal. (Cartilage is nasty when infected!) The goat has about 100 pounds on the dog, and is horned, and the dog's a wuss, so the goat wins every time they get in a fight, but not without wounds of his own ...

It's just a personality thing, and all I can do is try to keep them seperate. (Not always an easy thing since BOTH animals are agile escape artists.)

Leva

My dog pen is butted up to my goat pasture on one side. Originally I had electric fencing between the two pens, but one of my goats got into the dog pen and had one of her ears almost torn off. She ended up losing that ear even after an emergency visit to the vet and two weeks of antibiotics. She was so traumatized by the experience that it took almost 3 months before she would voluntarily come to us for petting. She's fine now but needless to say, I changed to a sturdier fence immediately. Lesson learned the hard way...dogs + goats =s big vet bill and traumatized goat.